Catch the Fallen Sparrow Read Online Free PDF Page B

B team. They was shown up against the light, you see, quite clearly.’
    She did see. An image of stealthy, moving camouflage, that strange illusion of seething ground. She had noticed it herself once when up on the moors, had watched the ground itself seem to boil before she had realized it was the soldiers, on their bellies, stealing through heather and scrub, splashing along puddles and streams, invisible to the eye, creeping up towards the Winking Man. ‘Go on,’ she said.
    â€˜I didn’t notice nothing at first,’ he said, ‘but I could smell something – like meat cooking. I said to Gary, “Fancy having a barbecue now.” ’ He blinked, rubbed his eyes, looked at the black smears on the back of his hands. He giggled. ‘I bet I look a sight,’ he said. Then he stared at her hard for a moment, his eyes a light contrast against the blackened face. ‘The next minute, Gary was chargin’ down the hill like the bloody Light Brigade, screamin’ and holdin’ his gun out like the enemy was at the bottom.’
    â€˜And what did you do?’
    The soldier’s shoulders dropped. ‘I ran after ’im. And then when I got to the bottom I saw the little heap of rags.’ He looked at Joanna then swivelled around to stare at Detective Sergeant Korpanski. ‘I’ll never forget the sight of that kid burnin’,’ he said, ‘for as long as I live – or that smell either. It was enough to make me sick.’
    â€˜But you weren’t sick?’
    â€˜No,’ he said, ‘I wasn’t.’
    â€˜Then what did you do?’
    â€˜We pulled our jackets off, put the fire out, covered him up.’ He blinked tightly against the suspicion of a tear. ‘By then the sergeant was wonderin’ what the hell we were up to. It was him what rung the police.’ He slumped forward in his chair his face still tight with shock. ‘That’s about it,’ he said, and Joanna nodded.
    â€˜I thought it was probably like that,’ she said. ‘Did you notice any cars when you first arrived at the lay-by?’
    Private Thomas Jones shook his head. ‘Not a bloody livin’ thing.’
    Joanna licked her lips. ‘Tell me, Private Jones,’ she spoke softly, ‘this is very important. Did you touch anything?’
    He looked worried. ‘No,’ he said, ‘on my honour I did not. Apart from puttin’ our jackets over him to put the fire out we didn’t touch anything.
    Taking the tiny bunch of grasses out of her top drawer, Joanna asked, ‘Did you notice these?’
    He looked genuinely puzzled and shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I didn’t see them.’
    When the soldier had shuffled out Joanna turned to Mike. ‘As simple as he seems, Mike?’
    He nodded. ‘I think that held the ring of truth.’
    She jerked her head towards the door. ‘And the other one?’
    â€˜I’m not so sure about him, Jo,’ he said.
    She stood up and opened the door. ‘Let’s see, shall we?’
    Private Gary Swinton walked in, his short ginger hair looking pale against the blackened face. It made it difficult to judge his expression but they both knew it would be truculent, aggressive. Years in the police force had taught them both to sniff out various attitudes – however hard the wearer might try to conceal them. To coin a phrase, Joanna thought she would not like to meet him alone on a dark night.
    The usual formalities over she met the pale eyes. ‘We understand it was a little after five a.m. that you began to ascend the crag known as the Winking Man?’
    Gary Swinton nodded. ‘Yeah,’ he said carelessly, sitting on the edge of his seat.
    â€˜You were about halfway up the hill when Tom caught the scent of charred flesh.’ She knew she was questioning him with a particular care. The tattoos had already alerted her to one tiny link. But